Sister Maria Celeste (born Virginia Galilei; 16 August 1600 – 2 April 1634) was an Italian nun. She was the daughter of the scientist

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He ...

and

Marina Gamba Marina Gamba of Venice ( – ) was the mother of Galileo Galilei's illegitimate children. Marina Gamba was born around 1570 in Venice. Relationship with Galileo Galilei During one of his frequent trips to Venice, Galileo met a young woman na ...

Biography

Virginia was the eldest of three siblings, with a sister Livia and a brother Vincenzio. All three were born out of wedlock, and the daughters were considered unworthy for marriage. Troubled by monetary problems, Galileo placed them in the San Matteo convent shortly after Virginia's thirteenth birthday. When she took the veil in 1616, Virginia chose her religious name, Maria Celeste, in honour of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

and her father's love of

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

. From her

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against ...

, Maria Celeste was a source of support not only for her

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare ( la, Ordo sanctae Clarae) – originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and later the Clarisses, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Second Order of Saint Francis ...

sisters, but also for her father. Maria Celeste served as San Matteo's

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Amer ...

(herself being of frail health). She sent her father herbal treatments for his maladies while additionally managing the convent's finances and staging plays inside the convent. There is evidence she prepared the manuscripts for some of Galileo's books. Maria Celeste was also a mediator between her father and her brother. Maria Celeste frequently asked her father for help for the convent, and kept it afloat through his influence. Galileo helped repair its windows and made sure its clock was in order. In 1633, the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

tried Galileo for

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important relig ...

. He was forced to recant his views on

heliocentrism Heliocentrism (also known as the Heliocentric model) is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun at the center of the universe. Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth ...

, and was sentenced to house arrest for life. Shortly after Galileo returned to

Arcetri Arcetri is a location in Florence, Italy, positioned among the hills south of the city centre. __TOC__ Landmarks A number of historic buildings are situated there, including the house of the famous scientist Galileo Galilei (called ''Villa Il G ...

in disgrace, Maria Celeste contracted

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

and died on 2 April 1634, aged 33. Galileo described Maria Celeste as "a woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness, and most tenderly attached to me".

Work

After Galileo's death, 124 letters from Maria Celeste written between 1623 and 1633 were discovered among his papers. Galileo's responses have been lost. Maria Celeste's letters have been published: * Virginia Galilei, '' Lettere al padre'' on

Wikisource Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually re ...

* Galilei, Maria Celeste, and Sobel, Dava. ''Letters to Father: Suor Maria Celeste to Galileo, 1623-1633''. New York: Walker & Co., 2001 Als
online

Legacy

* Maria Celeste appears as a character in the play ''

Life of Galileo ''Life of Galileo'' (), also known as ''Galileo'', is a play by the 20th century German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and collaborator Margarete Steffin with incidental music by Hanns Eisler. The play was written in 1938 and received its first theatr ...

'', by Bertold Brecht and

Margarete Steffin Margarete Emilie Charlotte Steffin (21 March 1908 – 4 June 1941) was a German actress and writer, one of Bertold Brecht's closest collaborators, as well as a prolific translator from Russian and Scandinavian languages. Biography Born to a pr ...

. The play does not give an accurate portrayal of her life as it depicts her becoming engaged, rather than as a nun. * The

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

has named the impact crater Maria Celeste on the planet

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

after her.

Notes and references

* Favaro, Antonio. , Florence: G. Barbèra, 1891 * Sobel, Dava. '' Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love'',

Penguin Group Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initi ...

, 1999, . Numerous formats and translations.
Galileo Project

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Celeste, Maria 1600 births 1634 deaths 17th-century Italian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns Galilei family